Filling In The Blanks
by thekeyunderthemat
Summary: Through Lena and Stef's point of view, I take on what happened in the show, their thoughts, feelings and the stories between the scenes shown on tv. First chapter - Pilot.


Disclaimer: I do not own The Fosters, but I have used their characters and part of their dialogue.

A/N: This is my take on the Pilot episode, the stories not told between the scenes and how everything affect the mamas.

Lena is just finishing the reports that have fallen today on her desk, analyzing budgets and results of students' evaluations whose parents she must speak with in the next few days. She loves her job as vice-principal at Anchor Beach School and she likes to be prepared for these kind of things, to be able to give good advice, encourage her students to do well and reassure their worried parents.

The classes finished almost an hour ago, she should have already gone home, but she wanted to leave this prepared. Her twins, Mariana and Jesús, decided to walk home today with some friends instead of waiting for her to drive them home and Brandon is off with Stef. Her partner took their eldest son to the San Diego Music Society Annual Competition earlier today. Lena apologized for not being able to escape the school hours and make it there today to support him and promised to be for the finalists concert tomorrow night. There is no doubt in her mind that her talented son will make it to the final.

The piercing sound of her mobile phone disrupts her preparation.

"Hello?" She answers distractedly.

"Hello, Lena. This is Bill."

"Oh, hi Bill. Is everything okay? Did you make contact with the twins mother already?" Bill is the social worker that followed the twins case when Lena and Stef started fostering them and helped them formally adopt Jesús and Mariana two years later. A friend of the family ever since. In the last few weeks, she has been regularly speaking again with Bill because the twins -mostly Mariana- want to establish contact with their birth mother again. These kind of situations have to be handled through the legal system, for their protection.

"Ehm. Not yet, sorry." Lena frowns, waiting for Bill to explain what this call is about then. "Actually, I was wondering if I could ask you a favor."

"What kind of favor are we talking about, Bill?"

"I have a kid that I don't know where to place. A girl, Callie, sixteen years old, just like Brandon, right?" He quickly explains, referencing their eldest son. He sounds like he is in a rush, he doesn't wait for an answer. "I know that this is not why you have been talking to me lately, but I was wondering if you could take her in for a couple of weeks. Otherwise I'm afraid she would have to go to a group home today." He pauses. "But I really think you would be a good fit."

Lena bites her inferior lip as she thinks about it. She worries that her house is already quite crowded with her partner and their three teenagers. She thinks about how this new addition could affect their family.

Ultimately, she sighs and answers Bill. "I would have to talk to Stef first, but at least for tonight, I don't see why not. That would buy you some time."

"Thank you. You are a savior." Bill sounds relief. "Could you come pick her up in an hour? I will text you the address and I'll see you there." He rushes.

"Sure." She says quickly.

And just a beat after, he speaks. "Perfect. See you there. Bye." And he hangs up.

Lena looks around her desk and figuring out what she can finish up now and what will have to wait after all. Her phone chirps with Bill's text and she searches the address. It is about fifteen minutes away in a neighborhood she doesn't know well, but she supposes she'll get there with the navigation system.

She tries Stef's phone. It rings until her voicemail comes up. She sighs frustrated and tries again. Same. She finishes up with the notes she was taking about the last file she read and places it all neatly on her desk. She revises her schedule for tomorrow and finally decides to get going.

Lena says goodbye to the staff on her way out and tries Stef's phone again. Lena sighs. Surely Stef put her phone in silent for the Competition, but forgot to at least leave the vibration on. She finally gets into her car and puts the address on the navigation system.

Lena is very surprised when the navigation system tells her to enter the parking lot of the Juvenile Detention Facility. In her mind she goes through the conversation she just had with Bill and she doesn't recall him mentioning this Callie girl was in Juvie. But surely Bill wants to meet her there because he has to pay a visit to another foster child, right? She parks and tries Stef's phone once again. No luck.

A tap on the window surprises her. "Hi. Lena? I'm David." She remembers seen him around the Social Services offices the days she met with Bill there.

"Where's Bill? I just spoke to him, he was supposed to meet me here." Lena takes her purse, gets off the car and quickly follows him.

"Yeah, Bill..." David starts explaining as they approach the entrance of the building. "One of his cases, well, a kid in one of his foster homes ODed, so he had to rush to the hospital."

Lena literally stops in her tracks, falling a couple steps behind as she keeps following David. "Oh my God..."

"Yeah, it's terrible." She is a little appalled about the little reaction this man shows. It worries her that is something he's grown accustomed in his line of work. "I take it he told you about Callie."

"Yes." She quickly answers, although the man is not waiting for confirmation.

"Yes, well, it seems that she has been having a few issues with male authority figures of late. Which is..."

Lena nods along, that makes all the sense in the world. Not a male authority figure in their house. "That's why he thought of us."

"Right."

This Callie isn't going to drive herself here, so she's obviously getting out of Juvie. Lena tries to rationalize it. "So she got into a fight with her foster father?" A little fight that maybe escalated and once reported landed her in here. She has got some attitude issues...

"And damaged some of his property, which is how she landed here in Juvie."

"Damaged his property..." Lena shakes her head. "Wow, David. Bill and I have known each other for a very long time, and he's been a friend of the family ever since he placed the twins with us, but I cannot bring someone violent into my house. I've got my own kids to think about."

"No, this was just a one time thing." He assures her. "Listen, it'll only just be for a few weeks." 'Yeah, if Stef doesn't kick both of us out', Lena thinks.

A slouching girl with a broken lip and a swelling bruise on her cheek gets out of the building. She stops as soon as she steps outside and she wills her eyes to adjust to the light. She looks tough and weak at the same time. "Oh my goodness..."

"When the kids get out, some of the other inmates et jealous and pick fights." David tries to calm her concerns. "One second..." He walks inside to meet the girl and she hears Callie nervously asks David about someone called Jude. Lena doesn't like David that much when he shuts the poor girl out completely and drags her outside.

"Callie, this is Lena. Lena, Callie." He introduces them. Lena smiles trying to be welcoming and nice and erase Callie's frown, but it doesn't work. "I guess I could take her to one of the group homes..." He knows that what he is asking is huge and he delivers a low blow as he plays with Lena's conscience.

Lena maintains her eyes fixed on Callie's. Even though she can see a wall built around the girl, the uninterested stance and that broken lip that definitely doesn't count in her favor, Lena has learned over time to read into kids eyes. And Callie's eyes tell her everything that she needs to know for now. Callie's brown eyes look gentle, lost and terrified. The group homes are sometimes just as bad as Juvie is...

"It's just for a few weeks, right?" Lena smiles at her and she can see the relief in the girls eyes. She really hopes she is not making a huge mistake. "Okay."

Lena signs the documents that make her responsible for the well-being of Callie during the time she spends with her family. David promises Lena that Bill will provide them with her file as soon as possible and then, they are on their way home.

Lena tries to make conversation with Callie in the car, but the girl doesn't seem to be in the mood. The older woman even offers the teen the power to choose whatever music plays in the car, but she just shrugs and passes on that chance, so Lena decides to wait for her to actually speak and ask something. Callie, though, keeps looking around nervously, keeping taps on the streets they drive through.

After a long and silent drive, the car stops right before a nice home. Upstairs there is a light on and Lena smiles to herself.

"Come on." She tells Callie. She doesn't say anything or even acknowledges the statement, but she gets off the car and follows this woman inside. "Hello. I'm home." She calls through the house.

"Hey, Mom. Do you think I could sleep over at Lexi's this weekend?" Mariana says coming down the stairs. "Who is she?" She asks when she catches sight of Callie.

Lena chuckles. "Hello, Mariana. My day has been great. How was yours?" She turns around and gently pushes Callie's shoulder inside the house. "This is Callie. She's is going to be staying with us for a little while. Callie, this is Mariana, my daughter."

"Nice to meet you." Mariana nods now at the bottom of the staircase.

"Hello." Callie nods, looking back at forth between Mariana and Lena and discretely looking around the hall.

The older woman guesses that is the only thing they are going to get from Callie for now. "Get your brother and help me out with dinner."

"Jesús! Come help!" She turns around and just shouts.

Lena huffs. "I could have done that." She walks through the house, making a sign for Callie to follow, and into the kitchen. She turns the oven on so it starts warming up and looks for something in the fridge. "Mariana, would you put together a salad, please?" She adds when the girl comes into the kitchen.

"Sure." A teenage boy follows Mariana into the kitchen. "Jesús, this is Callie."

"Hi, Callie." He smiles earnestly and starts going through the drawers of the kitchen, getting napkins and forks.

Lena busies herself unwrapping a homemade lasagna she had frozen for a last minute dinner, like this one, and putting it on the oven. "So, Mariana and Jesús were in the foster program, too." She explains to Callie, who just sits in one of the stools around the table. "They came to us about eight years ago and we formally adopted them... five years ago." She finishes up with Mariana's help.

Jesús is already putting the plates on the table. "Foster system sucks." He simply states.

"Jesús..." Lena admonishes.

Mariana agrees, though. "He's right. It kind of does."

"Okay." Lena accepts, although still not liking the term he used.

"What happened to your face? Get in a fight?" Jesús asks her.

Lena intervenes before she has to answer. Not that she was thinking about it. "Callie's kind of had a rough day. So, how about we cool it with the third degree?"

"Is there... where's the bathroom?" Callie finally asks and Lena thinks it is the longest sentence she has heard her utter since she met her.

She smiles, it's something. "Yeah, it's right through there. You'll see it." The battered girl disappears to the bathroom.

"So... where'd she come from?" Mariana asks right away.

Lena has to laugh, because her curious daughter has been biting her tongue from asking since she introduced them. "I talked to Bill, from Child Protective Services, you remember him?" The twins nod. "To talk to him about something and he, you know, he was in a bind with Callie. And he needed some place for her to stay." She explains. "She's had a rough time lately, so, I really need you guys to be extra nice to her. Please?" They nod.

"What were you talking to Bill about?" Mariana asks, suddenly suspicious.

Jesús buts in. "Guess."

"All right, so I was going to wait until everyone was home to talk about you guys about this. Have a seat." She motions Mariana. "I was calling to find out when we could set up a meeting with your birth mom." She awaits for a positive reaction. "I thought you would be more excited. This is kind of all you've been talking about for the last six months."

"Yeah, I know." Mariana nods. "I did, just... I don't think so." She finally says.

"Did Jesús talk you out of this?" Lena argues. "Just because he doesn't want to go..."

He defends himself. "Don't look at me."

"No, I just... changed my mind, is all." She says.

Lena looks into her daughter's eyes, trying to make sense of this change of heart. "Are you sure?"

"I'm not ready."

She sighs and grabs her phone. "I need to make a phone call. It shouldn't be long. Check on the lasagna, okay?" They nod and Lena leaves the kitchen and goes to the living room.

"Hello?"

"Bill, it's Lena."

"Hello, everything okay?" He asks innocently, muffled by a lot of noise behind him.

Lena huffs. "You forgot to tell me Callie was getting out of Juvie." In the other end, the man sighs. "Bill, you know I can't have a violent kid in the house. I have to keep my children safe."

"She is a good kid, trust me." He says. "This violent incident was just a one time thing. She is not violent or dangerous. Let's just say she hasn't been too lucky with the foster homes she's been to. She just has some trust issues because she has been passed around a lot. But you know me, Lena and I wouldn't have even suggested you take her in if she was violent."

Lena sighs. "Okay, okay. I still have to talk to Stef. I couldn't reach her before."

"All right. So everything okay?"

"Yeah, for now."

"Okay. Talk to you in the morning, then?" Bill asks.

"Yes. Bye, Bill."

"Bye."

The call disconnects and Lena walks back into the kitchen. She checks the lasagna in the oven and takes it out with a cloth so she doesn't burn herself. "Ok, so did you guys do your homework?"

Mariana nods and looks pointedly at her brother. "What? Why you gotta look at me like that?" He jumps. "Just because you get straight As and you don't have to study?"

"Jesús, everyone has their strengths." Lena tries to settle.

The back door surprises them and Brandon comes in, taking his seat fast. "Hey, guys."

"Hey! How was the audition?" Lena asks.

"It was good, it was good. I made the finals." He finally smiles excited.

"That's fantastic!" Lena exclaims.

Brandon brushes it off. "It's not that big of a deal."

"It is a huge deal. Are you kidding me? That's like a 5000$ scholarship, isn't it?" She exclaims.

"When is it?" Mariana asks.

Lena answers faster. "It's tomorrow and we are all going. So homework right after school, please?"

Callie has come out of the bathroom and gotten into the stool she was in before. Brandon looks at her curiously. "Who's this?" He asks.

"This is Callie." Lena explains. "She's going to be staying with us for a little while."

"Ok. Staying with us." He repeats. He takes a piece of lasagna and puts it in her plate, simply accepting it. "Nice to meet you."

"What about him?" Callie speaks.

Lena doesn't have a clue what she is asking. "What?"

"How'd you get him? 99 Cent Store? I mean, they have everything there." Callie makes a joke a little harsh.

"Brandon is my partners Stephanie's biological son from her previous marriage." Lena explains. Right on cue, the back door opens again and a blonde woman in full police uniform comes into the kitchen. "Hey honey." She calls.

"Hi." She says dropping her bag in the counter. "It smells great. Lasagna. Delicious, thank you." She walks around the kitchen table and kisses Lena. "How are you, honey?"

"Good, how are you?"

"Hi, babies." She calls and opens the fridge to pick up a cold beer.

Jesús can't help but notice the shocked face Callie has. "What? Nobody told you our mom's a cop?" He asks. Stef peeks from behind the fridge door to the new girl she hadn't noticed before.

"See, this is why no boys ever want to come over." She comments.

"As it should be." Stef says satisfied as she opens her beer.

"So, you're dykes." Callie states and the kitchen falls silent.

Stef stops mid sip and Lena tries to find a way to answer, but it finally is Jesús who speaks. "They prefer the term 'people', but yeah, they're gay." He tries to explain, with an edge in his tone at Callie's bluntness.

"And he's the real son." She points at Brandon. The family's frustration shows in different ways at that poor given comment. Mariana and Brandon sigh and keep eating their dinner. Stef laughs nervously and Lena tries to organize her thoughts while keeping her mouth shut for a moment.

"And who's this?" Stef finally asks.

Lena takes a deep breath. "Callie, these are all our children. Brandon is Stef's biological son and the twins are adopted, but they are all our children and we love them the same." She explains and then turns to her partner. "Stef, this is Callie." She gestures to the girl. "I talked to Bill and he needed a place for her to stay." She finishes. "Can I talk to you for a sec?" She doesn't wait for an answer as she walks outside.

Stef follows her, leaving her beer in the counter and closing the door behind them. "I tried calling you several times." She starts.

"Yes, I know. You never left a message." Stef simply says. She just thought Lena wanted to know how Brandon did.

"What was I going to say in a message about this?"

Stef checks on the children through the window. "What do we know about this girl that we're bringing into our house, with our children? What happened to her face?"

"She got beat up in Juvie." Lena finally says.

"In Juvie? Lena..." She says surprised.

Lena raises her voice to stop her. "I know, I know! I talked to Bill. She's not violent, she's not dangerous in any way. This was a one time thing." She tries to reassure her.

"Honey, we can't save them all!" Stef exclaims.

"It's just for a few weeks." She tries to convince her. "I'm telling you, if you had been there and seen the way this girl looked at me..."

"Honey, I know you only did this out of the goodness of your heart, and I can't get mad at you for that, can I?"

"Oh, mushy." Lena laughs. Her tough looking police partner so kind and gentle, she isn't even mad. "I ought to bring kids home more often." She jokes.

"Oh, please do not, because any more kids, it's gonna be like the Brady Bunch around here and we're... we're definitely not The Brady Bunch." Stef jokes too.

The rest of the dinner goes as usual. Callie just looks down on her plate and eats in silence. She believes she's crossed a line and so, she just looks down and keeps to herself. Stef and Lena make conversation with their children and each other and send the teens upstairs once they have finished and put their plate in the sink.

Stef makes herself a cup of tea and sits in front of Callie while Lena washes up.

"The curfew on school night is seven." Stef lists the rules. "You must ask permission from Lena or myself before leaving the house. Also, you'll go to school while staying here. Lena is the Vice Principal of Anchor Beach Charter School. All the kids go there..."

"Where do I sleep?" Callie asks. These are all rules she has heard before and she prefers if they cut right to the chase, she's really tired.

Stef takes a second to ask. "Excuse me?"

"It's not my first time in a foster home." Callie explains, but her voice still has an edge that she can't control. "Where do I sleep?" She tries again.

Lena puts a hand on Stef's shoulder and takes it from there. "Let me show you." She knows that Stef is trying to be patient with her, but she isn't liking this harsh Callie.

She guides the girl out the kitchen and shows her around the downstairs floor. Then, they make their way upstairs and she starts pointing to the rooms. "That's Mariana's room, Jesús', Brandon's... that's the bathroom and that's the master bedroom. I think that's all. If you need anything, you know your way around the house." She opens a closet and takes a couple of blankets and pillows and guides Callie back downstairs. "Tonight, though, you will have to sleep on the couch. Stef says it's pretty comfortable." She jokes, but Callie doesn't laugh along.

She busies herself making Callie a bed for tonight on the couch and she drops with a sigh. "One pillow or two?" She doesn't answer. "Okay, I'll leave them both."

She nods when the bed is made and turns again to Callie. "I left some towels for you in the bathroom and... do you have a toothbrush?"

"No, I don't have a toothbrush." She answers again harshly and even Lena is losing her patience. "How would I have gotten a toothbrush?"

"Ok." Lena answers as she sits down. "Callie, we're on your side. You can take it down a notch, ok?"

Callie looks down and swallows. She takes in the gentle smile on Lena. "Yeah." She agrees with a sigh.

"I noticed you were really upset when you were talking to David earlier." Lena starts. "Who's Jude?" She inquires.

Callie's eyes start swimming with tears. "Look... when I went into Juvie..." Lena gets her hopes up, she is finally opening up!

But they plummet down when Stef comes into the living room already in her pajamas and interrupts their conversation. "Hey, here are some clothes for you to sleep in." She offers her. "Tonight, if you want to leave your clothes outside of the bathroom, I'll wash and make sure they are clean for tomorrow, ok?" Again, Callie doesn't answer. Stef squeezes Lena's shoulder and goes away. "Good night."

"You were saying?" Lena tries again.

But the moment is over and the walls are back up. "You have that toothbrush?"

Lena gives her a new toothbrush and leaves her to have a shower and prepare for bed. She goes to her bedroom to change herself into her pajamas and start the laundry. While Stef is doing a round saying goodnight to the kids and making sure they are okay with their new addition to the house, Lena calls the staff at Anchor Beach to explain the situation and make sure there will be no problem in taking Callie to school in the morning and getting her in at least some regular classes.

Stef is back in their room when she hangs up and helps with folding the clothes from the dryer.

"Thank you." She says as Stef drops the last of the clothes to fold. "Ok, so I've been thinking and I know how mad I would've been if you would've made such a huge decision without consulting me. I'm sorry." She apologizes.

"It's fine." She assures her. "All right? I'm okay. She's not exactly the warmest kid I've ever met." She jokes.

"I really appreciate you making the effort. It means a lot to me."

"Of course, my love." Stef simply says.

"You know, I just think that poor girl has just been through so much." Stef takes the laundry basket outside. "I'm just really glad we can give her a place to stay. You know, that's safe. For now."

"For now..." Stef warns. "As long as she doesn't mess with our family. It's all good." She kisses her partner soundly. "Now get off my side, please." She playfully pushes Lena to the other side of the bed.

"Ok, mama tiger." She laughs.

They take off the extra pillows and slide under the covers. "Do you want to hear something strange?"

Stef chuckles. "Sure." The night has been weird enough.

The blonde lies comfortably in bed and Lena looks at her. "I talked to the twins about arranging a visit with their birth mom, like we talked about." Stef makes a sound for her to continue. "And now, neither one of them wants to do it."

Yes, it definitely comes off as strange to her too. "Not even Mariana?"

"Nope." Lena shakes her head. "She says she's not ready."

Stef shakes her head. "Good." After everything they went through trying to decide whether it would be good for the twins to meet her or it would be bad for them to see her just out of rehab, and now they don't want to meet her. "Come here." Lena rests her head on Stef's shoulder. The blonde kisses her forehead and they set themselves to sleep in each other's arms.

When the alarm goes off in the morning, their routine begins as usual. Lena rolls over to stop the blaring noise and Stef hides her face against the pillow with a groan.

The blonde is not a morning person and it takes her a great effort to get out of her bed's comfort. On the other hand, Lena doesn't have much problem to jump out of bed and get on with the day, but her reaction to Stef's tactics to cheat the day for five more minutes of sleep depends on her mood.

Today she is feeling playful. She smacks Stef's bottom and rolls over to lay on top of her. She takes her time brushing the blonde hair out of the way and whispers into her ear. "Good morning." Her arms wander to her partner's waist.

Stef carefully moves her head to the side. "It certainly is improving." She says. Lena lets herself fall back to the mattress to Stef's side and the blonde kisses her slowly. "Good morning, love." She keeps peppering kisses all over Lena's face and neck until Lena stops her.

"Stef, don't start something we aren't going to be able to finish." She ignores her and keeps kissing her neck.

"I can be pretty quick..." She says against Lena's throat.

She closes her eyes at the feeling and then pushes her off. "I don't want quick. I want to take my time with you and we don't have it." She kisses her lips again and stands up from the bed. "Come on, Stef. Take a cold shower. I'm going to make sure the kids are up and getting ready."

Lena leaves the bedroom and knocks on Brandon's door. "Brandon? Are you up?" There's no answer, so she pushes his door and look inside. His bed is unmade, but she can't see Brandon anywhere. She walks into the room and finds him in his piano with the headphones on. She walks towards him and puts a hand on his shoulder. He jumps a little in surprise.

Lena takes off his headphones gently, putting them in his neck, and Brandon leans back into her. "How long have you been up?" She asks, massaging his shoulders.

"About an hour." He says, looking at his watch.

Lena frowns. "And what time did you go to bed?"

"Late." He confesses.

Lena huffs and messes with his bed hair, making it look even crazier. "I thought it wasn't a big deal." She reminds him what he said last night, but she knows him. She knows her son cares for this competition, but doesn't want to show it just in case. Lena kisses his head and tries to comb his hair with her hand. "You are a great man and a great pianist. Whatever happens tonight, everything is going to be okay and we will be proud of you, no matter what. And it will do you no good stressing out so much about this. You will have plenty of chances."

"I know, mama. I can't help it, though." He looks at her upside down and it just makes her laugh.

"Just remember that there are more important things in life than a competition, okay bud?" He nods and Lena gives him a final squeeze on the shoulder. "Now, come on. Get ready for school."

Brandon gets his things and follows her out and into the bathroom. Lena continues to Mariana's bedroom and knocks. The girl tells her to come in. She is in front of the mirror, trying to decide which shirt to go with. "Good morning. I'll go with the yellow one."

"Yeah, I thought so too. Good morning." She says, she drops the yellow shirt on her bed and puts the other one back into her closet.

Lena leaves her to pick up the rest of her outfit and knocks on the last door. There is no sound coming from the other side. "Jesús?" There is still no sound from inside, so she opens the door and peeks into the room. Jesús is still sound asleep in his bed, one arm hanging by the side, the other grabbing his pillow. Lena walks into the room and shakes his shoulder gently. "Jesús, wake up."

The boy groans and tightens his hold on the pillow. Lena chuckles and continues shaking him. "Jesús, come on. You won't have time to get ready for school." He buries his head and doesn't answer, but Lena knows he is already awake. "Don't make me tickle you out of this bed." She warns him. "Because." She uses a finger to tickle one of his sides. He jumps away on reflects. "I will." She tickles his other side.

He rolls over, hands in the air in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'm up."

"You better or I will have no mercy." She jokes on her way out.

Stef comes out of the master bedroom on her police uniform, her still wet hair already braided back. "The kids are up?"

"Up here, yes. I was about to go down and wake Callie."

The blonde frowns. "If she is going to stay, she needs her own bed." Stef wonders out loud. "I mean, in normal conditions, she should at least have her own bed for the foster system to place her here."

"Yeah, I have been thinking about that too. We could get a twin bed and put it in Mariana's room?" Lena suggests.

Stef nods. "That could work. Mariana is not going to be happy about sharing her room, though." Lena shrugs. "Okay. Go get ready. I'll wake Callie up and start breakfast."

Stef goes down the stairs and directly into the living room. Callie is still sleeping in the couch, oblivious to all the activity upstairs. She looks tense even in her sleep and she is clutching the blanket pretty tightly around herself. The blonde looks at the girl for a few minutes wondering how to proceed to wake her up without scaring her.

"Callie." She calls in a low voice, raising progressively the volume. "Hey, Callie, wake up. Callie." She moves and Stef knows that she is hearing her. "Callie." She says again and the girl's eyes suddenly open wide. She nervously looks around, until she seems to remember where she is. "Hey, sleepyhead. It's time to get up." She informs her. "Come have breakfast when you are ready."

She walks into the kitchen and starts brewing coffee for herself and Lena, takes the orange juice and the milk out of the fridge and starts preparing the bacon and scrambled eggs. First Brandon and Lena and then Jesús and at last Mariana, come into the kitchen and start eating.

Finally, Callie can't find any more excuses not to go in the kitchen too. She walks into the kitchen like a zombie. She is not a morning person at all. "Good morning, sunshine." Stef jokes. "Orange juice on the table, help yourself. Make yourself at home."

Lena makes sure that the kids get their backpacks while Callie has her breakfast. She goes directly to the coffee maker and pours herself a cup. When she turns around, everybody is silently looking at her. The children are not allowed to have coffee, but it's clear this girl has had it before. She doesn't even wince at the bitter black coffee.

"Would you like some cream?" Lena offers, breaking the silence. Callie just shakes her head.

"Can I have some coffee, too?" Jesús asks and there is a chorus of 'no's. He has ADHD and even though he takes his pills to help him concentrate, the caffeine will make him even more jumpy.

After breakfast, Stef makes her round of kisses to her children and wishes everybody a nice day. She kisses Lena's lips for a little longer and then she is out the door.

Callie puts on her own clothes now clean and Lena provides her with a backpack with some essentials for school, her timetable and lunch money. The Vice Principal rushes everyone else to get ready and get in the car and off they go.

"Hey Brandon, why don't you show Callie around?" Lena begs her eldest son. "She's starting the day in Timothy's class." He nods. "You have your class list, Callie?" She confirms. "You're going to love Timothy. He's a lot of fun." She tries to encourage her, but she seems already distracted, taking in the busy school and the fact that the school is right by the beach.

Lena leaves them chatting and goes into her office to finalize the paperwork from Callie's registration into the school. Today, she has a couple of tours to give to prospective students and their parents that are thinking about enrolling in the fall. That part of the job has always been pretty easy for Lena: the school installations and programs sell themselves. And on one of these tours she met the love of her life.

She keeps busy in her office until there is a knock on her door. "Lena? The Yukimuras are here for their tour." Susan, the secretary, tells her.

"I'll be right there." She leaves her desk, grabs a couple of brochures and follows her out. She manages to get a glimpse of Mariana heading to her next class and a lost Callie trying to figure out campus when she steps outside with the Yukimuras.

After the Yukimuras, there is an issue in the cafeteria she has to attend to before giving a tour to the Murrays and then some more paperwork. Lena finishes up late and drives back home hoping that the kids are getting ready to go to Brandon's competition.

"Hey, sweetheart." She sees Mariana as soon as she walks through the door. She looks nervous. "You ok?"

"I just... I don't feel so good." She walks from the living room where she surely was just watching TV to the staircase. "My stomach hurts. I don't think I'm going to be able to go to Brandon's thing tonight." She winces and puts a hand on her stomach.

Lena knows her daughter enough to believe this time she is making it all up. "What, you feel like you're going to throw up?"

"No, I just... I think I just ate something bad. I really need to lie down." Mariana quickly answers, trying to walk upstairs and hide.

It seems that Mariana really wants to get out of going to Brandon's competition and Lena is not sure why, she is just coming into the house after al. So for the moment, she decides to delay their discussion. "Ok. Well, yeah, go lie down and we'll see how you feel later." Jesús comes running down.

"Hey, so what's going on with Mariana?" If anything is wrong, usually Mariana's twin is the first to know.

"What do you mean?" He acts as if he didn't have a clue what she was talking about.

"Why is she pretending to be sick?" She tells him plainly.

"I don't know. Maybe she's actually sick?" He shrugs, turning on his videogame. "Or it could be that time of the..."

"If you say that time of the month, I'm going to sign you up for a women's health workshop at my ob-gyn." She pushes him to make seat for herself on the couch. "Don't ever say that in a house full of women."

"Ok, ok. Jeez, well, if it's not that, then I don't know what to tell you." He continues to cover for her.

Lena sighs. "Okay..."

"I'm home!" Stef exclaims as soon as she gets through the door.

Her partner arrival reminds Lena that they should be getting ready. "Hey, put that away. You need to get changed for Brandon's competition." Lena reminds Jesús.

"I just came down here!" He protests.

"I know." She agrees. "Go. Now, Jesús. Go!" She ushers him up before walking to meet her partner.

"Where is everybody?" She is muttering, grabbing something to snack on from the fridge. "Hi!" She says pleased when she sees Lena.

"Hey." She says shortly.

"What's wrong?" Stef knows that just a 'hey' means there must be something off. "Everything all right with Callie?" The girl's attitude last night is the first thing that pops on her head. She walks to the sink to wash her hands before eating.

"No, I haven't even checked on her yet. I just walked in. I just... something's up with the twins." She finally says.

"Meaning?" Stef asks.

"Well, Mariana's pretending to be sick."

Stef chuckles. "Stomach ache?" She always has a stomach ache when she doesn't want to do something.

"And Jesús is all clammed up. He's not saying something." Lena addresses what she has been worrying about. "Do you think it's about Anna? Do you think... Maybe I'm putting too much pressure on Mariana?"

"Absolutely not." Stef says bewildered, it was Mariana who was pressuring them into arranging the visits with her birth mom. How is it that now they are actually moving forward with it they feel like the ones pressuring her? "I think she has just changed her mind. They're not ready yet. Really, it's ok." She reassures her.

Lena is relieved and stands to hug the blonde. "You keep me sane." She says and Stef can only laugh.

Stef continues chuckling. "I don't know how... sane you're going to feel after you hear what happened at work today." She starts. Lena waits for her to elaborate. "Now that Vazquez is leaving, you're never going to guess who Roberts is partnering me up with."

"Who?" Lena asks, already having a very good idea about the answer.

"Mike." Stef confirms. "Apparently, he asked for me." Lena only huffs. "Oh please, do not go all non-verbal on me. It is not a big deal, honey."

Lena shoots her a skeptic look: Stef was married to Mike and they had a son together, but he couldn't make her happy because she was gay and couldn't love Mike how he deserved, so they separated and Stef finally filed for divorce shortly after meeting Lena. And now they are going to spend long hours together every day. How can it not be a big deal?

"It's really not..." Lena continues to communicate her discomfort through little sounds. "Now who's all clammed up. Come on, honey. It's Mike. It's just Mike." She finishes.

"It's just Mike." Lena echoes, frustrated. The doorbell ringing ends the conversation for now. And just on the other side... "Hey Mike." She spits out.

"Hey." He says oblivious. "You guys ready?" He has already changed into a suit to attend the competition.

Lena gives him a death glare and yells into the house. "Brandon, your dad's here! It's time for your competition!" There is no answer from upstairs and she just sighs, remembering her conversation with him this morning. "He'll be down in a second. I think he's nervous." Mike puts his hands on his pockets and just nods. "Brandon?"

Still nothing, so Mike gets in the house and closes the door. "So... I hear you and Stef are going to be back on the beat together." She comments, trying to bite back her annoyance.

"Oh, yeah." He nods.

"Stef says you asked for her." There's no way to hide it now, the words are dripping on it.

"I did." He confirms and Lena nods trying to be calm about this. He elaborates. "Look, it was either me or a rookie. I was never comfortable when she was working with Vazquez, I... Look, I just feel better knowing I'm around. Okay? And we got the kids to think about." He adds.

Lena takes her time to think about it. She knows Mike is an experienced policeman and it's reassuring that he wouldn't let anything happen to Stef, that he would always have her back. "Ok."

"Ok." He repeats.

"Thanks." She says as a way to apologize. "I mean, as a feminist, I'm totally offended and everything, but... as her wife, you know... thanks." She finishes, reminding Mike that she is Stef's partner - although not technically her wife.

"Yeah, just don't tell Stef I said that." She shakes her head and Mike sighs relieved.

"God, where's that kid?" Lena remembers that they are waiting for Brandon, who needs to rush now.

She is peering upstairs when Stef comes exclaiming. "Brandon, shake a leg! We're going to do this thing! Hey Mike, you clean up nicely."

"Stef." He says as he checks her out, still in her uniform.

Lena looks at the stairs but it's Jesús who comes down. "Hey, why aren't you changed?" She frowns.

"Hey, he's not here." He answers to all the screaming for Brandon.

"What?"

"Yeah, they didn't walk home with us." He explains. "I just thought he was showing her around." He shrugs.

"Her who? Her, Callie, her?" She inquires.

"Yeah." He just says as he goes back to the living room and his videogame.

"That's not like him..." Mike comments. "He knows he has the music thing tonight."

"I know it's not." Stef agrees.

"I don't know who this girl is or why you guys feel like you have to take in strays like some damn homeless shelter..."

"Okay..." Lena stops his stupid rant.

"So, where the hell are they?" Stef wonders out loud.

Lena retrieves her phone and calls Brandon's a couple of times. No answer. "He's not answering. I'm going to try Talya." Maybe his girlfriend knows something about him.

"Look, I'm sure he's fine. He probably thought we were going to meet him at the contest. Why don't I just head over there and check it out?" He suggests, trying to find a logical explanation.

Stef is pacing nervously and Lena is still at the phone. "Hey, have you seen Brandon?" She asks when Talya picks up.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Stef suddenly remembers and takes out her phone. "I had this app installed on all of our phones, because that one kept losing his." She looks at Jesús playing in the couch.

Lena hangs up. "Ok. She says the last time she saw him, he was talking to Callie after seventh period. Maybe he's right." She agrees with Mike. "Maybe we're just overreacting."

Stef quickly looks in her app. "If we're overreacting, what are they doing in San Ysidro?"

Mike's calmness is out the window. "What?" He reaches for the phone.

"Are they going to Tijuana?!" Lena asks.

"I am going to kill him. This is exactly what I was worried about." Stef sighs.

"Let's go." Mike says returning the phone.

"I'll drive." Stef agrees.

The drive seems to drag on forever in their worried mindsets although Stef is going a few miles above the limit. Mike has Stef's phone and gives her directions. Brandon and Callie seem to have stop at an address in San Ysidro, calming Lena's fears that they might make it to Tijuana. They still have no idea why they would even be there and they have to push away the more terrible thoughts and hang on to the hope that, for starters, they can find him along with his phone.

As Stef pulls outside the address the app lead them to, the first thing she can see is Brandon with his hands in the air and a man pointing a gun at him. "Gun!" She exclaims and although she is terrified for her son, she lets the police training kick in.

Mike snaps into action too. "Call 911." He says.

"Lena, stay here." Stef asks her unprotected partner.

Silently, Mike and Stef separate and go to the different entrances in the house, their guns up. They still don't know what it's going on inside, but there is a lot of yelling in. Stef approaches the back door and is able to see a terrified little kid, no more than eleven or twelve years old, standing in the kitchen with his hand on his ears.

She takes another peek, Callie pleading with the man pointing the gun from her to Brandon, and makes her move. "Police! Freeze! Freeze! Get down on your knees now!" The man points the gun to the ceiling while yelling. She doesn't care. "Get down on your knees now!" She yells again.

Callie runs to the boy and hugs him tightly making sure he is safe. From behind Brandon, at the front door, appears Mike with his own gun. "Put the gun down! Put the gun down!" He tells the man and he slowly complies.

The situation under control, Stef lets her eyes wonder from the man and fall into Callie and the little boy. "Honey, are you ok?" She keeps asking and he assures her he is. The girl is crying and smiling at the same time, not letting go of the kid. The boy is the same mess. This is the first time she has seen the girl smiling. The blonde starts putting the pieces together in her brain.

"Hands on your head!" Mike keeps yelling instructions. "Don't move!"

"Man, this is my house!" The man on the ground tells him.

"Shut up! Shut up!" He just says. Stef throws him her cuffs and Mike immobilizes him.

"Brandon, go outside with Lena." Stef orders him. He seems to linger, but she shoots him a look and he complies.

Mike nods and Stef puts the gun down in her holster and walks to the two kids in the kitchen. Callie doesn't let go of him.

"Hi." She says gently, resting her hands on both their backs. "Are you ok?" The boy looks at Callie and she nods, so he nods back at her. "And who are you?" She asks.

"I'm Jude." He answers.

"He's my brother." Callie explains to Stef.

The blonde nods along. "Nice to meet you, Jude. I'm Stef." Outside the police car lights shine. Backup is here. "Has this man threaten you with a gun before?" She asks.

Jude shakes his head quickly. "He got it just a few weeks ago." He says. "He used the bat before, but Callie broke it while smashing his car." Stef's eyes widen in horror. Jude tries to mend it. "It's okay. I've been extra nice these days, so I hadn't seen the gun."

The blonde hides her horror with a smile at the sweet boy. "Why don't you go pack your things up, Jude? You are not staying here tonight." She watches them go into the bedroom and get his things.

Meanwhile, outside, Lena is grabbing her seat to prevent her from getting out of the car and run into the house. It won't do any good for her to get in the middle of this, the rational part in her knows it. But Brandon, Callie, Stef... they are in danger...

When she sees Brandon coming out of the house, she jumps out of the car. He meets her halfway and she puts her arms around his neck. "Oh my god. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine mama." He says. Lena pulls back and looks at him. "Mom and Dad have it under control. He dropped the gun and Dad is cuffing him. We are all okay." The lights of a police car illuminates them and in mere seconds, two police officers come into the house.

They take the man into custody and Stef accompanies Callie and Jude to the car, putting the boy in the backseat and helping Callie put his things in the trunk. "And who is that?" Lena asks when she sees the little boy.

"That's her brother, Jude." Brandon explains to her. Lena was far too worried to think about the reason they came here in the first place, but now everything makes sense. Brandon continues talking. "Look, I was just trying to do the right thing, ok? I'm sorry about the scholarship. I know we could've used it..." He rambles.

She pauses him. "Brandon, I don't care about the scholarship. That guy had a gun." She emphasizes.

"Yeah." He looks down, guiltily.

Lena sighs. "Get in there." She pushes him towards the car and pulls out her phone. She has to tell Bill about Jude's situation.

On the back of the car, Stef is having a talk with Callie. "I would really like you to understand how this, tonight, could've ended very, very badly."

She can see that the girl is putting her walls up again and looking to the ground. "Look, if you want to send me back to Juvie, then you just promise me Jude will be somewhere safe." She begs.

It breaks the blonde heart how this girl got sent to Juvie trying to protect her little brother and how she is willing to risk it all and be sent again there just to keep him safe. She looks at her in a whole other light now that she knows what's behind the tough exterior. "You're not disposable, Callie." She just tells her, hoping to get the meaning through to her. The girl keeps looking at her, biting her lip. Maybe it is. "You're not worthless." Stef smiles gently at her. She sees the corners of her mouth threatening to turn up in a smile and Callie looking away.

She grabs her shoulders gently and pushes her towards the back seat of the car. "Come on here, let's go, let's go." She helps her open the backseat door and she sits by her brother. On the other side, Mike opens the door to say goodbye to his son. "Hey. You know I'm gonna kill you if your mom doesn't kill you first."

"Yeah." He nods guiltily.

"I love you, B." He says with a sigh.

"I love you too."

Lena is on the phone. "We'll take them home for now, Bill. It's fine." She assures him. "It's fine. I will call you tomorrow." She says. "Okay."

"I'm going to make sure this guy has a terrible night." Mike tells Stef and Lena.

The blonde agrees. "Yeah, feel free."

"And I'll get a ride back later." He informs them.

"All right."

"I'll see you at work tomorrow." He says and then goes with the patrol.

Lena sighs. "I talked to Bill. He's going to make arrangements to pick up the kids tomorrow." Stef starts shaking her head. "What does that mean?"

"That means that we are not sending these kids back into that system right now. All right? Not yet." The blonde says completely serious.

"Are you sure?" She chuckles. "We really don't have the room..." She drags on. Callie had to sleep in the couch last night and they haven't even gotten around to buy that extra bed to fit into Mariana's room.

"Then we'll make room." She throws her arms around her partner. "Ok, we'll make room." She holds her tight and feels how Lena puts her arms on her back and finally relaxes with a sigh.

After a while, Lena pulls back, kisses gently her partner and they walk around the car. Once inside, they look back to the three kids in the backseat and back at each other. They smile. "Buckle up!" Stef says, before buckling up herself and starting the car.

"So, Jude." Stef calls, looking at him through the rearview mirror. "This is my partner Lena."

"Nice to meet you, buddy." Lena says, turning herself around on her seat to look at him.

"Hey." He smiles.

"And I think you already know our son, Brandon." Stef sees him look to Brandon on his side and nod. "Okay, we are going home and I will introduce you to Jesús and Mariana too."

The boy bites his lip, pondering if he should ask or not. "What is going to happen to us?" He finally does. "Is Callie going to have to go back to Juvie?"

Lena turns around. "No, buddy. She is not going back to Juvie." She explains. "We don't know what it's going to happen to you. Tonight you will stay with us and we have to meet with Bill in the morning."

Stef looks at Callie through the rearview mirror and she looks back. "We are going to make sure that you two stay together, though, okay?" Callie nods and Jude smiles. "Do you like pizza, Jude?"

"Yeah." He says, trying not to look too excited but failing miserably.

Lena and Stef both chuckle. "Lena, what do you say we order pizza for dinner? It's been a really long day, I don't want to get in the kitchen."

"Okay..." Lena begrudgingly agrees.

As they arrive, Jesús and Mariana are waiting sitting outside. Lena and Stef look at each other as they find it suspicious. When they get out of the car, Mariana is unusually quiet.

"What happened?" Jesús asks.

Stef huffs and ushers them all inside. "It's a long story." She just says. "But this is Jude." She introduces the little kid and Jesús nods at him. "And we are ordering pizza. What do you want in it?"


End file.
